How many wins could we have had this year if...

[romothesavior]

(1) We didn't scrap Rob Ryan's scheme to run an obsolete 4-3 Tampa 2 defense with 3-4, man-to-man personnel. If our defense was just mediocre like it was last year as opposed to the worst in franchise history, we'd have more wins.
(2) We didn't blow two games with terrible game management on offense
(3) We actually believed in running the football and having a balanced offensive attack

Yeah yeah, "you are what you record says you are" and all that. It's easy to play "what if" with a .500 team.

But I look at this team and how close we've been in so many of these games, and I can't help but think that this could easily be a double-digit win team. I look at those three things above and I can't help but feel like the biggest thing holding this team back is the scheming and philosophy, and that starts at the top.

 

[johnson2]

to be fair to the defense and staff, i really feel like the switch of def & scheme weren't as crucial as not getting spencer and ratliff all season. having them 2 would have took pressure off of the lb's and a lot of pressure off of the cb's. look at today carr getting 'abused' by garcon but mainly because we had absolutely no pressure on cousins all day.

everyone always criticizes kiffin, and the switch, etc. but forget to mention we were missing 2 of our best defensive players all year and turned what should have been literally our biggest strength this year to our biggest weekness.

with all that being said, with the players we have had available this year, we have been atrocious

 

[Blackspider214]

That's how the NFL works these days. 95% of the time, you will have a chance to win any game. Rarely there are blowouts. And like basketball, when one team gets up, the other team usually comes back.

While there are tons of games we easily could have won that we lost, it also works the other way around. We could have easily lost today and the Vikings game. Same as both Giants games. We had to come back from 14 down to beat a crappy Raiders team at home.

 

[Gameover]

How about if we didn't blow the den pack lions games regardless of the defense?

Not to mention the KC game

An inability to move the ball has cost us more than defense.

 

[cowboyskid29]

8-8

 

[Eddie]

Wow, this reminds of the lamo threads back during the 5-10 years where we used to count the number of losses by less than 7 points.

We are what we are ... and 8-7 team with an opportunity to make the playoffs next wee.

 

[Eddie]

Man, imagine what our record would be if we didn't lose any games this year.

 

[Flinger]

Seriously?

And, you don't even mention we played our 19th defensive lineman today...

Really?

The Patriots are doing pretty good. They probably have a coach you can admire, too.

 

[TheSport78]

Probably 11-5

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

True but when you don't have two of your best players unavailable to you on the same side of the ball, especially on the same unit, for the entire year, that's a major blow. Financially, it was horrific.

 

[dstovall5]

How about if we didn't blow the den pack lions games regardless of the defense?

Not to mention the KC game

An inability to move the ball has cost us more than defense.

Defense and Coaching cost all three of those games, if our defense was average then we're sitting at 11-4 today. Frustrating if you ask me. And no our offense hasn't cost us more then our historically bad defense, that's just complete asinine. Watch the games.

 

[Frosty]

Probably 11-5

Easy 10 wins with a experienced qualified head coach, think Garrett coaching holds this team back from reaching its full potential. If the defense would of been remotely healthy possible 12-4 or 13-3

 

[theebs]

First mistake of the year, not hiring Todd Bowles.

Downhill from there.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

to be fair to the defense and staff, i really feel like the switch of def & scheme weren't as crucial as not getting spencer and ratliff all season. having them 2 would have took pressure off of the lb's and a lot of pressure off of the cb's. look at today carr getting 'abused' by garcon but mainly because we had absolutely no pressure on cousins all day.

everyone always criticizes kiffin, and the switch, etc. but forget to mention we were missing 2 of our best defensive players all year and turned what should have been literally our biggest strength this year to our biggest weekness.

with all that being said, with the players we have had available this year, we have been atrocious

You bet.

The team lost two front 7 starters almost from the get go.
The team has lost five front 7 starters for various chunks of the season.
The team has lost numerous front 7 reserves throughout the season.

I don't think it would matter what defense was being run... to one extent or another.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

True but when you don't have two of your best players unavailable to you on the same side of the ball, especially on the same unit, for the entire year, that's a major blow. Financially, it was horrific.

You bet.

I look at the list of guys that have had to play on the defensive line this year and I just shake my head.

 

[burmafrd]

for anyone to blame anything but the D for the majority of our problems this year is to be incredibly football stupid.

Now whether Ryan stayed or went I doubt the results would have been much different

 

[burmafrd]

How about if we didn't blow the den pack lions games regardless of the defense?

Not to mention the KC game

An inability to move the ball has cost us more than defense.

now that is the epitome of blind

 

[romothesavior]

Seriously?

And, you don't even mention we played our 19th defensive lineman today...

Unfortunately, that's not really something you can control. The personnel issues, the injuries, etc. are unforeseen difficulties.

My point is that the coaching staff, the scheming, and the philosophy are things that are clearly within our control and we are botching them horribly.

I think this is a 10-12 win team if we just keep the 3-4, play more man press (since, you know, our CBs are man guys), have a little offensive balance, and manage the clock better. All of those are coaching staff things.

 

[Flinger]

In my opinion - there is only one game in 3 years where coaching negatively impacted the game in a manner greater than the failure of the team and it's players - and that was last weekend. Should have run with a large lead.

Other than that - it is entirely on the players to execute. If we don't either have the players or they are injured, it really doesn't matter what is called.